Once and Again

Chapter Eight

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Maine woke up to another day of frantic activity on her social media accounts.

Since that "first date" with Rj, they had been going out in public more often so naturally there were more people who had pictures of them which was posted on social media.

She had been receiving numerous friend requests, DMs or what not, with a common theme: everyone wanting to know who she was and why was she hanging out with THE Alden Richards. Of course, on the flipside, people on social media were wondering what the connection of Maine Mendoza, YouTube sensation, was to actor Alden.

There was some show of support saying that Alden seemed happy and that they looked good together. Others picked up on how Maine and Patty seem to be friends so there shouldn't be an issue there and that there is something between Patty and Sam.

As in these things, news wasn't always pleasant. There were numerous tweets on how a plain girl like her could dare take Alden away from beauty queen Patty; others were horrible to Alden; some even hinted that Maine was his girlfriend that he had gotten pregnant.

The upside to all of this, she is learning to trust Rj more and more. He has been patient getting her feedback about all this attention she was getting and he was coaching her on how she can approach it based on his experience. He, on the other hand, had been heeding her advice on how to handle nasty tweets that call him a philanderer one second, then gay the next.

Maine was also pleased that nowadays there was a lightness in their conversations – as if the dark cloud of their past was no longer weighing on both of them.

She was falling. She knew it and she was done stopping it. 

Her phone rang. It was Rj.

"Good morning!"

"Good morning, Menggay. Papunta na ako sa airport, I'll call you again when I land in Cebu."

"Okay. Don't forget my mango with chocolate ha?"

"Siyempre naman. Otap gusto mo?"

"Lechon gusto ko."

"Pag ako nag-uwi niyan..."

She giggled. "Joke lang. Wag na. Mahirapan ka pa."

"Meng, ano pala... May lumabas na tabloid article about us."

"Ah! Kaya pala sabog na naman notifs ko. Should I bother reading it?"

"No na. In summary –"

"Wow. 'In summary'." She teased.

"Heh. Anyway, may photo nung nagpunta tayo sa mall the other day? Then, they identified you through your Twitter handle. Tapos, ginawan ng issue na I'm cheating on Patring."

"Oh, eh old news na 'yan. Why do you sound bothered?"

"They're calling you names kasi."

"So? Let them. Wag mo na isipin yun okay? Ang isipin mo kung ano pa yung magandang pasalubong for Menggay."

Rj chuckled. "Okay po. By the way, slightly kinikilig si Patring sa tabloid article."

"Why?"

"Kasi sabi dun mag-best friends kayo."

They laughed at that. "Kulit ni Patring. Dinner naman tayo with her and Sam sometime?"

"Huh? Talaga?" Rj sounded surprised. This was the first time Maine had extended an invite.

"Yes, I want to get to know them more sana because friends mo sila and they've been nice to me. And, umm, pwede kaya ako manood ng Sunday show mo?"

He was ecstatic. "Yes, of course. Teka, a-arrange ko na. Ay, teka baka si Mama Ten na mag-ayos. Or ako nalang. Basta. I'll text you yung plans. Yung Sunday show, sure na yun. Pupunta ka talaga? Promise, Meng?"

"Yes, kung pwede, wala naman ako work that day. Yung dinner with sila Patring, work out nalang natin kelan tayo lahat free."

"Huy, ano bang nangyayari sayo? May LBM ka ba?" Mama Ten asked.

"Wala, ito naman. Manonood daw si Meng sa Linggo, Ma!"

That Sunday, they arrived at the studio together. There were a few people who recognized Maine and were subscribed to her channel; others knew her because of the tabloid and tweets linking her to Rj.

"Sa backstage ka daw mag-stay kasama ni Mama Ten, baka kasi makilala ka ng ibang audience. To be safe, dun ka nalang muna, if okay lang?" Rj explained.

Maine bit her lip. "Oo nga pala, hindi ko naisip yun. May violent reaction kaya if makita ako dito? Uwi nalang kaya ako? Baka magalit yung fans mo."

"Uy, wag. Di ba we'll have dinner pa later after we go to church?" He pouted.

"Eh kasi nga yung fans mo... Pano pag may magtanong about us."

"Wala naman akong tinatago eh."

They shared a smile.

"Paps! Gwapo natin ngayon ha," greeted one of the shows regulars. "Hi, I'm Jerald. Alden's best friend."

"Hi, Maine Mendoza po," she extended her hand and shook his. "I'm Rj's... umm..."

"Crush," Jerald teased. "Alam naming lahat dito."

"Ah, crush lang pala?" Maine said, and both Rj and Jerald looked at her. "Akala ko in love na in love na siya sa kin eh."

Jerald gave out a big laugh. "Well, oo. Yun nga ata, kwentuhan tayo sometime sabihin ko sayo lahat. Text kita."

"Hoy anong text. Wag ka nga." Rj warned.

"Maine, o, inaaway ako ni Alden. Pahirapan mo ha? Babaan mo yung chances of winning niya sayo."

Maine noticed that Rj didn't laugh at that and she asked him as soon as Jerald was out of earshot. "Uy, napikon ka ba?"

"Hindi naman, sensitive lang siguro dun sa topic ng chances." He was instructed to already take his place on stage. "Punta na ako dun ha? Balikan kita sa commercial gap."

"Okay. Rj!"

"Yes?"

"Maliit pa ba yung 87% chance?"

He was grinning the entire show.

That night, he tweets: 13% to go =)

The next day, a tweet circulated confirming the news:

Alden Richards confirmed to be in a relationship with co-star.